John 15:9-17 Love and Joy Perfected
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”
Jesus is walking down the hill from the Upper Room, heading down the Kidron Vally, and talking as he goes.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” The disciples are baffled and stare at one another. Sure, they all know that Jesus loves them; it’s that love that has drawn them in the first place. But keep Jesus’ commandments? Jesus has been teaching for three years; that’s a whole lot to remember. The disciples look at one another, shrug their shoulders, and grin, for all they can do is to try. Certainly, they want to remain in Jesus’ love. All this time, Jesus has been teaching lessons on obedience, for Jesus obeys his Heavenly Father, and it’s that obedience that has allowed Jesus to remain in his Father’s love.
““These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus wants the disciples to be so bound together in love that nothing will be able to separate them from him or from one another. All this time, Jesus has been setting the example for the disciples, for even when they have made mistakes or have become impatient or fretful, or have even argued over their position in the Kingdom of God, Jesus has continued to love them anyway. It’s this kind of love that Jesus wants his disciples to exemplify.
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” Jesus is about to lay down his life, not only for the disciples, but for the sins of the whole world. Although the disciples do not yet appreciate what Jesus is about to do, eventually, they will fully understand. Eventually, all of these men will lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel in some fashion. Once more, Jesus is tying obedience to friendship, for you can’t be someone’s friend and rebel against them and what they stand for.
“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” There are tons of servants of all kinds in Jesus’ day, from the lowliest who wash guests’ feet as they come through the door to the stewards who run households for the very wealthy. But no matter what level a servant occupies, the servant still has to take orders from his master. But friends don’t take orders, friends share confidences, and Jesus is sharing his heart with these friends.
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.” No matter what the disciples might think, Jesus chose each one of them at the urging of the Holy Spirit. There might have been times when Jesus looked at someone like Simon Peter and grinned at his Heavenly Father and asked, “Really, Lord? You want me to choose HIM?” What must that conversation have been like when the Father told Jesus to select Matthew the tax collector and an object of hatred in Capernaum? But Jesus obeyed, and now the disciples and he are crossing the Kidron Brook on their way to Gethsemane.
Does Jesus know that by tomorrow morning, all these men apart from John will have run away to hide somewhere? Perhaps. Jesus is a realist. But Jesus also knows that once the shock of the crucifixion is over and once he is resurrected, these men will prove true and they WILL love one another and lay down their lives for one another and for those who believe in him.
So many times, we get caught up in OUR work, OUR ministry, Our goals, that we lose sight of Jesus’ commands for us to love one another. This night, Jesus will continue to teach his disciples about love until soldiers come to drag him away, causing him to demonstrate that love. But what do Jesus’ commands mean for us? Later, St. Paul will write in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Those of us in positions of authority need to examine our hearts. Are we truly making decisions that honor Jesus and are loving, or are we envious, boastful, puffed up, rude, seeking our own, provoked, thinking evil about those around us, and rejoicing in vivid gossip about those around us? Are we rejoicing in the truth, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things? Sadly, much of the time, we fail miserably. We are far too quick to verbally slaughter people and allow them to be defamed without troubling ourselves to investigate. We mishandle those around us and then complain at their lack of support. We terrorize and then wonder why those who first encouraged us have become distant.
May God cause us to repent of our hard-heartedness and our viciousness! May God give us new hearts of flesh dedicated to loving those around us in exchange for our stony hearts of hatred!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we confess that we have not loved those around us as we should have. We have judged, we have raged, we have criticized, and we have condemned. Lord, forgive us and change us into Your Image. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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